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So... does watching fansubbed anime make me an Otaku or something? Because I'd honestly like to avoid that label.

Too late!!!! Just being REGISTERED on an anime/manga forum makes you 'otaku'!!!!! O the horror!!!! Flee for your life!

Seriously... the 'otaku' label is pretty much broken. The West has mangled the real meaning of the term - til it is just a fancy way of saying "geek/nerd fan of anime". Whereas in Japan, it still means a seriously subcultured lifestyle that may or may not be all that healthy. In Japan, 'otaku' brings up mental imagery in much of the public of a few nutcases who sporadically make the news after committing heinous crimes.... kind of like the mention of D&D in the 80s got you defending yourself from misinformed upstanding idiots about the Satanism and Drugs supposedly surrounding it.

Of course, the word itself is overloaded as historically it means "home" お宅, 御宅 otaku but written as hiragana refers to the slang meaning.
(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku)

As I said, I really *liked* the a.f.k. translation work except for what I'll call "overtranslation" of the food, little of which is alien to anyone who has ever looked at a teriyaki bar menu (sukiyaki, yakitori, etc) (I notice they used "natto" rather than "fermented bean curd" though they used the term "parent child bowl" instead of the japanese term, it got kind of inconsistent). This is PURELY a personal preferential difference though.

I don't know if this was responded to in the pages after you posted (as I can't remember and I'm slightly inebriated), but I believe "parent child bowl" was used because otherwise, the "expanded family bowl" wouldn't make any sense without a note and would destroy the impact of the joke.

You know... all these "similarities" you are finding such as the Chiyo and Akari ones are simply character stereotypes traits reused commonly in stuff like this. In fact, the first thing I thought of in that Chiyo pic was the first transfer student from Konnyaku.

:: jumps out of the bushes ::Kaioshin-sama! Troll! Enemy of Haruhiism!!!

Sorry, couldn't resist. Yanno though, being bothered by the lack of manliness in this show seems kind of odd since it's a show about high school girls. Although I'm also tired of having male leads who are whiny/incompetent. Anime needs more guys like Batou. And FYI... there's a lot of decaffeinated brands on the market that are just as tasty as the real thing.

Funny thing, I don't see the OP as being that much about dancing. Much of the footage isn't dancing, and some of the footage that is doesn't have the dance move creativity of Hare Hare Yukai. The fascination for me is with the music itself. I've been trying to figure out what's going on with all the time signature and tempo changes, the music is rather unusual for a "pop" song. Would be curious to hear some analysis from someone with more musical education than I have. I have to give the a.f.k. people major props for putting out what seems like such an accurate translation of the lyrics. Now I can sing it! Oh, and I was being driven nutz by the section in the middle after the shots of their legs, from that point to just before the cheerleading section was so reminding me of another song. Finally figured out what it is... "Spice Up Your Life" by the Spice Girls. Same shift to a lower register, with almost the same melody line. And I find both oddly addictive.

Going to put myself into the minority category here, I thought the section where they talk about food was the best part of the whole show. First because I've had conversations that are sooo similar in tone and flow, although not on the same subject matter. Second because I think it's a really good way to start the series by setting a tone that says thinking about the weirdness of everyday topics is the point... clearly we should expect a more cerebral and subtle tone than the sometimes manic pace of AzuDai, let alone the action of SHnY. And finally... because Miyuki is my alter ego. Or maybe I'm hers. She eats cake *just* like me... I've even used the phrase "normal distribution" to describe how I eat desserts. It's bordering on eerie. So I just hope that in my next lifetime I will be that cute!

About the somewhat over-rapid timing of many of the transitions: I'm thinking it may be a side effect of the extra strain that reading subs puts on the brain. A native viewer is going to be hearing the lines while their visual cortex is examining the elements of the scene. Someone who's trying to read the subs and look at the scene, back and forth, is gonna be a bit lagged mentally much of the time. This might make the cuts seem abrupt, when they aren't to the native viewer. Trouble is that a native viewer is also used to certain kidns of comic timing, so the only way to really test this theory is to find someone who's fluent but not immersed in Japanese culture. Or else I could watch a handful of scenes until I've memorized the dialoge, and then try watching without reading the subs at all.

Too late!!!! Just being REGISTERED on an anime/manga forum makes you 'otaku'!!!!! O the horror!!!! Flee for your life!

I'd take the comment more seriously if he didn't have that SOS-dan Helicopter sig...

Still, if you're so self-conscious about your image, than you have no reason to worry. The stereotyped ani-ota couldn't care less, so you're already quite clear of harm's way... (*see Genshiken for further details)

Too bad I missed the earlier OT stuff on moe vs. shoujo...that would be a fun thread in itself. I like to point out that many popular moe series are done by artists also known for shoujo work... (CLAMP's Chobits, Koge-Donbo's DigiCharat, etc) furthering the confusion...oops, sorry, I'll shut up!

Too late!!!! Just being REGISTERED on an anime/manga forum makes you 'otaku'!!!!! O the horror!!!! Flee for your life!

Seriously... the 'otaku' label is pretty much broken. The West has mangled the real meaning of the term - til it is just a fancy way of saying "geek/nerd fan of anime". Whereas in Japan, it still means a seriously subcultured lifestyle that may or may not be all that healthy. In Japan, 'otaku' brings up mental imagery in much of the public of a few nutcases who sporadically make the news after committing heinous crimes.... kind of like the mention of D&D in the 80s got you defending yourself from misinformed upstanding idiots about the Satanism and Drugs supposedly surrounding it.

Of course, the word itself is overloaded as historically it means "home" お宅, 御宅 otaku but written as hiragana refers to the slang meaning.
(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku)

I'm aware of the Japanese meaning, which is why I'd like to avoid being called an Otaku. Wait... doesn't that make me MORE of an Otaku?!

The problem with that is that it's somewhat hit and miss. For example, I've been running through Azumanga Daioh - and I still can't find anything that explains what "Summer Service Day" is, and why that might be preferred to the start of the autumn quarter so much that Chio-chan has to do her "Motivation" spell (ep 22)...

Quote:

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

If my memory hasn't failed me yet, I'm pretty sure it's just what it sounds like: going to school for a few days during summer break for various things (not sure what things).

FPB is on the right track. The original R1 release of AzuDai from ADV included booklets with lots of translation notes (I expect they might just come in handy while watching Lucky Star too...)

"Summer Service Day - In Japan, students are required to show up at school a couple times over the course of summer break. Usually, it's only for a couple of hours and not a whole lot gets done. Maybe a little preliminary planning for the sports or culture fest. Tomo, Osaka, and Yukari all wish it were a summer service day rather than the real first day back in school."

Then we move to Kanon where all the girls are like unrealistic angels in terms of their nature and then we have the one male presence in the entire series in Yuuchi who I think has a good shot at winning the annual biggest douche in the universe award.

Darn, I saw Kanon 1 and had that impression, but I was hoping Kanon 2006 (which I have not yet started) would have changed him. Guess not

re Tsukasa and Akari: There is a strong resemblance, but I think there's a closer match, since their faces are different. I swear I've seen Tsukasa in some other anime (probably with different colored hair) but I can't put my finger on it. I thought it was Pani Poni Dash, but I couldn't find a picture of the complete cast... it's driving me crazy since I get this strong deja-vu every time I see her face (and ribbon).

~ Darn, I saw Kanon 1 and had that impression, but I was hoping Kanon 2006 (which I have not yet started) would have changed him. Guess not ~

Not to sound overly-harsh, but I would take what Kaoshin says with a pinch of salt. Yuuichi in Kanon(2006) is widely accepted to be one of the better male leads to appear in recent history, and can be considered to be leagues ahead of Kanon(2002)'s Yuuichi. I am fairly confident that you will end up liking Kanon(2006)'s Yuuichi, confident enough in fact, to make a bet with you. If you wind up disliking Yuuichi at the end of Kanon(2006), feel free to de-rep me for leading you down the wrong path.

If you have more questions about Kanon(2006), feel free to pop on down to the Kanon sub-forum for more answers. There is a Q&A thread for spoiler-free queries.
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As for Lucky Star, well... currently the main attraction for me is the presence of Kagami and Akira. I am partial to Konata, but some of her mannerisms just doesn't gel with me. Tsukasa is okay at times, but not that memorable to me, and Miyuki is just too ditzy for my liking.